Door locking means



April 16, 1968 R. J. OLANDER DOOR LOCKING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 1, 1965 INVENTO'R. 22 ROLAND J. OLANDEI? ditty.

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P 1968 f R. J. OLANDER I 3,378,294

DOOR LOCKINGMEANS Filed Nov. 1, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR. ROLAND J. ANDEI? United States Patent 3,378,294 DOOR LOCKING MEANS Roland J. Olander, La Grange, Ill., assignor to W. H. Miner, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 505,815 9 Claims. (Cl. 292-218) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cargo container door fastener having a vertically disposed rotatable locking bar mounted on a hinged door in guide members having portions projecting beyond the closing edge of the door, a radially offset arm associated with each guide member for engagement with either the door frame or a second door, and a finger mounted on the bar for engagement with the inner forward surface of a keeper mounted on either the door frame or a second door, the oppositely acting arm and finger serving to align the first door and any second door in a substantially coplanar relationship with the door frame, the keeper having converging upper and lower surfaces to provide for vertical alignment.

My present invention relates generally to door locking means and more particularly to improved door locking means for the doors of transport vehicles.

Transport vehicles or highway trailers having enclosed trailer bodies are usually provided with a door frame in one wall thereof, and with a single door which has a vertical edge hinged to the one side of the door frame or a pair of doors each of which has a vertical edge hinged to the opposite sides of the door frame. These doors are adapted to be swung within the plane of the door frame for closing the same. It is common ating cam and keeper latching means to lock the doors in their closed position. The usual cam means, which are secured to the top and bottom ends of a vertically extending lock bar rotatably mounted on at least one of the doors, are arranged to be engaged with keeper means mounted on the door frame above and below the door. As is well known in the art, with the above described latching means difliculties are encountered in the latching process if the doors sag and become misaligned in respect to each other or to the door frame. Moreover, when the door frame is provided with two doors, separate latching units may be required for each door in order to insure proper latching in the closed position.

It is an object of my present invention to provide improved door locking means for firmly latching the door or doors within the frame.

It is another object of my present invention to provide door locking means, as described, whereby vertically misaligned doors are aligned in respect to each other and in respect to the door frame during the closing 'of the doors in order to provide a tight seal and proper latching.

It is another object of my present invention to provide door locking means, as described, wherein only one -latching unit is required for a pair of doors.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide door locking means, as described, which includes guide assemblies that serve not only to rotatably mount the lock bar to the door but also to keep the door or doors longitudinally aligned in respect to each other and to the door frame.

It is a still further object of my present invention to provide door locking means, as described, which, when incorporated with a door frame and a single door, obviates the use of conventional cam means at the top and bottom ends of the lock bar and cooperating keeper means on the door frame above and below the door.

Now in order to acquanit those skilled in the art with practice to use cooper- "ice the manner of constructing and utilizing door locking means in accordance with the principles of my present invention, I shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments of my invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a door frame and a pair of doors with which the door locking means of my present invention has been incorporated;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of the latching means arranged at the mid-section of the mating edges of the doors;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the latching means of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view, taken substantially along theline 4--4 in FIGURE 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view corresponding generally to FIGURE 4, but showing the parts in a different operative position;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view corresponding generally to FIGURES 4 and 5, but showing the parts in a still diiferent operative position;

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view ,on an enlarged scale, of one of the two identical guide assemblies at the upper and lower ends of the doors;

FIGURE 8 is a bottom view of the guide assembly of FIGURE 7; and

FIGURE 9 is an elevational view of a door frame and a single door with which the door locking means of my present invention has been incorporated.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 a conventional door frame which may, for example, be located in the wall of an enclosed transport vehicle. The door frame 10 comprises horizontal upper and lower structural elements 12 and 14 and vertical side structural elements 16 and 18. Disposed within the door frame 10 for closing the same are a pair of doors 20 and 22 which are, respectively,

- pivotally mounted along their one vertical edges to the side door frame elements 16 and 18 by means of hinges 24 and 26. The overlapping edges of the doors 20 and 22 (FIGURE 4) are provided with the usual insulating strips 28 and 30 to afford a seal therebetween when the doors are closed.

A vertically extending lock bar 32 is rotatably mounted on the door 22 in a manner to be described hereinafter. Secured to the upper and lower ends of the lock bar 32 are cam means 34 which are adapted to be engaged with keeper means 36 mounted to the upper and lower door frame elements 12 and 14. The lock bar 32 is adapted to be selectively rotated by means of a hand lever 38 which is pivotally connected to the lock bar 32 as at 40 and which is normally retained in a seal member 42 when not in use.

The door locking means of my present invention, which is adapted to latch the door 20 and 22 together within the door frame 10, comprises a keeper member 44 arranged adjacent the mid-section of the free edge of the door 20. As shown in FIGURES 2-4, the keeper member 44 is in the form of a generally U-shaped strap having a forward wall portion 46 defining an inner forward surface 48, upper and lower wall portions 50 and 52 defining upper and lower inner surfaces 54 and 56 that converge in a forward direction, and opposed upper and lower mounting flange portions 58 and 60. Interposed between the mounting flanges 53 and 60 and the door 20 is a buffer plate 62 which is preferably Wider than the keeper member 44. The buffer plate 62 defines a bearing surface for a purpose to be described hereinafter. The keeper member 44 and the buffer plate 62 are secured, as by bolts 64, to the door 20.

Arranged for operative association with the keeper member 44 is a finger element 66 secured, as by welding, to the lock bar 32 and extending generally radially therefrom. The finger element 66 is adapted to be received in the keeper member 44 in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter.

Mounted on the door 22 adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof are identical guide assemblies 63 which serve to rotatably mount the lock bar 32. As shown in FIG- URES 7 and 8, each guide assembly 68 comprises a generally U-shaped strap element 70 having a bight portion 72 and a pair of leg portion 74 and 76. A spacer element 78 is interposed between the leg portions 74 and 76 and is formed with an arcuate bearing surface 86 which faces the bight portion 72 of the strap element 70. The lock bar 32 is engaged at its opposite sides by the bight portion 72 and the bearing surface 80, and is thus rotatably mounted therein. Bolts 82 are passed through the leg portions 74 and 76 and are threaded into the door 22 for securely mounting the strap element 7 t) with the spacer element 78 clamped therein. For additional anchorage, a bolt 84 may be passed through the leg portion 76 and threaded into the door 22. The strap member 70 may be mounted flat against the door 22, or offset at one end as shown to accommodate the insulating strip 30. In addition, the guide assembly 68 is provided with an arm element 86, which is engageable at its outer end with the door 20 when the doors 2t} and 22 are in closed position Within the door frame 10. The arm element 86 is preferably deformed outwardly from the mid-section of the bight portion 72 of the strap element 70.

The doors 20 and 22 are ShOWn in a locked or closed position in FIGURE 1. To open the doors, the hand lever 38 is released from the seal member 42 and swung in a horizontal plane to a forwardly extending position. As the lock bar 32 is thus rotated, the cam means 34 are disengaged from their respective keeper means 36. At the same time, the finger element 66 is disengaged from the associated keeper member 44 and engaged with the buffer plate 62 to provide a prying action (FIGURE for initially separating the door 22 from the door 20. Thereafter, the doors may be swung outwardly of the plane of the door frame to an open position permitting access through the door frame for loading or unloading of the vehicle.

In closing the door frame 10, the doors and 22 are swung to a position close to the frame 10. Initially, the finger element 66 i engaged with the buffer plate 62 (FIGURE 6) whereupon inward swinging movement of the door 22 effects corresponding inward swinging move- I ment of the door 20. The hand lever 38 is then pivoted from a forwardly extending position toward the position shown in FIGURE 1. As the lock bar 32 is thus rotated, the cam means 34 are engaged with their respective keeper means 36. Simultaneously, the finger element 66 is engaged with the keeper member 44, and the arm elements 86 of the guide assemblies 68 are engaged with the outer face of the door 20, for aligning the doors longitudinally. Should the doors 20 and 22 be out of vertical alignment, the finger element 66 is engageable with either the upper or lower inner surfaces 54 and 56 of the keeper member 44 whereby to effect relative vertical movement between the doors for vertically aligning the latter in respect to each other and to the door frame. When the cam means 34 are fully engaged with the keeper means 36, the door 22 is locked in the plane of the door frame 10. At this time, the arm elements 86 of the guide assemblies 68 fully engage the outer face of the door 20, and the finger element 66 fully engages the inner forward surface 48 of the keeper member 44 whereby to prevent inward 0r outward swinging movement of the door 20 relative to the door 22, thus locking the door 20 within the door frame 10. The foregoing door locking means also prevents vertical movement of the doors relative to each other or to the door frame when the doors are latched in a closed position.

Referring now to FIGURE 9, there is shown the door locking means of my present invention as applied to a single closure door 88. The door frame 99, in which the door 88 is mounted, comprises horizontal upper and lower structural elements or members 92 and 94 and vertical side structural elements or members 96 and 98. The door 88 is pivotally mounted along its one vertical edge to the side door frame element 98 by means of hinges 100. The door locking means associated with the door 83 is substantially the same in construction and operation as the door locking means associated with the doors 2t) and 22. Primed reference numerals have been used in FIGURE 9 to indicate those parts which are the same or similar to the parts shown in FIGURES 1-8. In the case of a single door, a pair of keeper members 44' are secured to the side door frame element 96, which a pair of cooperating finger elements 66 are secured to the lock bar 32. Also, a pair of guide assemblies 68' are secured to the door 88 for rotatably mounting the lock bar 32, and the arm elements 36' of the guide assemblies 68 are engageable with the side door frame element 96. The arm elements 86' of the guide assemblies 68 serve to limit inward movement of the door 88 relative to the door frame )0, while engagement of the finger elements 66' with the keeper members 44 serve to limit outward movement of the door 88 relative to the door frame 90. Thus, the door 83 is aligned longitudinally with the door frame member 6, and is securely locked within the door frame 90. With the described arrangement, it is unnecessary to provide cam means and keeper means at the top and bottom of the lock bar and door frame as indicated at 34 and 36 in FIGURE 1.

While I have shown and described what I believe to be preferred embodiments of my present invention, it Will be understood by those skilled in the art that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. For use with a first door member having a closing edge and adapted to be swingable about a vertical axis toward and away from a second member, the combination of a vertically extending lock bar, at least one guide assembly adapted to be secured to the first door member and having a portion projecting beyond the closing edge of said first door member in which portion said lock bar is rotatably mounted, and said projecting portion of said guide assembly having a generally radially offset arm element adapted to be engageable with the second member for aligning the members longitudinally in a substantially coplanar relationship when the first door member is swung toward the second member.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said guide assembly is comprised of a generally U-shaped strap element having a bight portion projecting beyond the closing edge of said first door member and a pair of leg portions adapted to be secured to the first door member, one of said leg portions being disposed fiush against said first door member and the other being spaced forwardly thereof, a spacer element interposed between said leg portions and having a bearing surface facing and spaced from said bight portion, and said bight portion and said bearing surface serving to rotatably mount said lock bar.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said arm element is offset outwardly from said bight portion of said strap element approximately midway between the edges thereof.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein the second member is a door swingable about a vertical axis.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein the second member is one side of a door frame and said offset arm element when in engagement therewith limits movement of the first door member inwardly of the door frame.

6. The combination of claim 2 including keeper means adapted to be secured to the second member, and a finger element on said lock bar engageable with said keeper means on rotation of said lock bar for aligning the members longitudinally in a substantially coplanar relationship.

7. The combination of claim 2 including keeper means adapted to be secured to the second member and having wall portions defining an inner forward surface and upper and lower inner surfaces converging in a forward direction, a finger element on said lock bar and adapted to be received in said keeper means on rotation of said lock bar, said finger element being engageable with said converging upper and lower inner surfaces for aligning the members vertically, and said finger element being engageable with said inner forward surface for aligning the members longitudinally in a substantially coplanar relationship.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the second member is a door swingable about a vertical axis.

9. The combination of claim 7 wherein the second member is one side or" a door frame, wherein said offset arm element when in engagement with the second member limits movement of the first door member inwardly oi the door frame, and wherein said finger element when in engagement with said inner forward surface of said keeper means limits movement of the first door member outwardly of the door frame.

References fiited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,919,328 7/1933 vHansen. 2,472,034 5/1949 Williams 292241 2,944,303 7/1960 Uphues 292218 X 3,099,473 7/1963 Pastva 292-218 X 3,240,523 3/1966 Heimann 292-241 X RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner. 

